#lancerambles

Often, he'll have his boyfriend in the video. Maybe he's helping, or just stopped for a chat and didn't realize Eric was filming. Either way, Jack Zimmerman is a bit of a cryptid among the fandom, but also adored because he and Bitty are just so fucking cute together.

And technically, you know Jack and Eric played hockey together in college. You're not ashamed to admit that you've binged most of Eric's older videos at some point or another. Still, you didn't think it had gone any further than college.

That is, however, until your friend approaches you with an extra ticket to a Falconers game. You're not a big sports person, but you figure you might as well give hockey a try, and hey, its free! So there you are, sitting in the stands, vaguely listening to them announce players. And then you hear it. "Our starting forward tonight, Captain of the Falconers, is Providences very own number 1, Jack Zimmerman!"

Jack: "That my husband made it to watch me play. We didn't know if he was going to, you know, because of the book tour."

Reporter: "Yes, of course, but what was your favorite play?"

Jack: "When I scored the third goal for my hat trick. I promised Bitty I'd get him one tonight, so that felt great!"

Reporter: "Um. Yes, that does sound great. Can you tell us a bit about how you maintain camaraderie amongst the team, as captain?"

Jack: "Oh, the teams great! You know, Bitty sent me in today with a cooler of peanut butter jelly sandwiches. We ate them together before the game."

Because I can just imagine him getting diagnosed in his twenties in the off season and having some Big Feelings and Realizations. Like, realizing how he'd partially used alcohol to put a damper on overstimulation at parties when he was younger, and understanding why he had always had so much trouble figuring our how to interact with people (and therefore why he'd had so few friends growing up), so on and so forth.

And he'd tell a few trusted people, probably Bitty and Lardo and Shitty and Tater, because he understands himself better now, and he wants the people he loves to understand him better too. And they all start reading up on autism and accommodations, and Bitty talks to Jack about having ADHD and they grow even closer through their shared experiences with neurodivergency. In the end, though, it's Tater who goes above and beyond.

He's very careful not to out Jack to the team before Jack's ready, but Tater devises a plan. He convinced Georgia that the Falconers should do some outreach with a local Autistic Children Support Group, raising money and inviting the kids to practice. And then he not so subtly suggests to the rest of the team that they should get educated on Autism as well.

And the thing about accommodations is that they benefit everyone, so while the Falconers are researching they find accommodations to implement at the rink, to both help any potential autistic people on the staff or team, but also because they just generally sound nice. So they get permission from management, and they add light dimmers in the locker rooms so its not glaringly bright. They designate an unused office as a quiet room, filling it with pillows, blankets, and sensory toys to help with anxiety before games and cool down afterwards. Thirdy reads about info-dumping, and he thinks the idea of sharing information you love is super cool, so he sets up some optional team bonding power-point nights (some for serious power-points, some for silly ones).

And Jack comes back for training and hears Snowy talking about how they need to make sure that the merch they give the autistic kids in the upcoming event is sensory-sensitivity friendly. And he sees all the accommodations that have been built into the rink over the summer. And he feels so goddamn seen, even if the Falconers don't know that he's autistic as well. (He tells most of them pretty quickly after that. He knows he doesn't half to, but seeing how accepting they are makes him feel safe enough.)